Lyme disease is a growing epidemic in the US. On August 18, at the 2013 International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, the CDC (center of disease control) released new data on the number of people affected each year by Lyme disease. Namely, it pointed to a major difference in the recorded number of people affected by the disease and the actual number.
Upwards of 300,000 people appear to contract the disease annually, which is about 10 times what's typically reported to the CDC. Generally, there is a difference in the recorded and actual numbers of a given disease, but for Lyme disease there are many more than previously thought. Still, the new report is helpful in understanding the reality of how prevalent the disease is. Catching the disease early on is one key to treating it successfully. Reducing the raw numbers of people affected by the disease will take some comprehensive and collaborative efforts.
If not treated in a timely manner with antibiotics, which is hard to do if the typical “Bull's Eye” rash doesn't develop (the “Bull's Eye” rash does not develop in about 50% of the patients), the disease will progress into a chronic immuno-inflammatory condition, where antibiotics don't work. Even when caught early enough and treated adequately with antibiotics, 10% of the patients will develop an autoimmune condition resistant to antibiotic treatment.
Autoimmune and inflammatory conditions will not respond to antibiotics, unless they possess anti-inflammatory properties, like tetracyclines and macrolides, where the response will be limited.
There is a need for an effective, safe and inexpensive treatment of the chronic condition that develops after Lyme infection, known as “Post treatment Lyme disease”, which is turning to be the pandemic of the 21st century.